Onegood Student

Dr. Evans
English 1101
The Niche
At least two things are guaranteed when visiting the home of Mama
Sanku: food and hearty conversation. The first words out of her mouth will be
have you eaten yet? Even if the answer is yes, it wont matter because the
aroma coming from her kitchen can put anyone into a state of hunger. If the
answer is no, her smile will widen, shell pull her jet black hair streaked with
silver into a ponytail, and shell make her way to the kitchen. In the kitchen,
shes quick to assign duties to anyone that has agreed to be in there with
her.
Get some thyme from the bottom of the refrigerator, dear. I want to
add a bit more

freshness.

When its time to finally take a bite, the realization that the person
eating it prepared half of the meal finally hits. How was it that Mama Sanku
somehow managed to get the guest to happily cook, when she was the one
that offered the meal in the first place? Her ability to control a situation and
to get others to help is infectious. The career path that Mama Sanku was on
before she decided to become a homemaker, and why she chose that
particular path gives a thorough explanation as to why to how she acquired
these skills.
Growing up, she was obsessed with finding her niche. Her older brother
and sister seemed to posses their own talents whereas she was simply

mediocre in fields like art, music and sports. The world of academia was not
an area of struggles for her, but considering that her siblings were successful
in their schoolwork just as much as she was, or even more so left her feeling
average. Mama Sanku grimaces as she mentions all the ribbons her siblings
had accumulated over the years, whereas the only item that represented her
on the mantel over the fireplace in her parents home was a yearbook
picture. She would consider herself a social butterfly, and fondly remembers
hanging out with her friends, or just having a good time no matter where she
was. It was not until the age of 16 that she found something that only she
could understand.
Her grandfather, on her fathers side, was diagnosed with dementia.
Unfortunately, her grandmother had passed years ago, and so her
grandfather moved in with her family. Adjusting to this situation was major
for her family. Her father was the breadwinner and after a full day of working
and spending time with his own father, he would crawl into bed exhausted.
The constant care of Mama Sankus grandfather also had a toll on her
mother. It was hard to keep up with the lives of three children, take care of a
house, and an elderly man who had dementia. At this point in her life, her
older brother was doing graduate studies, and her sister was in college.
There would be times when it would just be her and her grandfather. The first
month was just awkward. Mama Sanku shakes her head in a mix of
embarrassment and guilt when she thinks back to all those times when she
would tiptoe around the living room area where her grandfather was

stationed. The word she chose to use when describing the first month of
observing her ill grandfather was uneasy. It was hard to grasp the fact that
his mind was breaking down at a much quicker pace than his aging body.
As the days flew by, it dawned on her that she was not just tiptoeing
around her grandfather, she was tiptoeing around her raw feelings about his
condition. Mama Sanku clarifies her emotions about her grandfathers state.
She explains that she reached a point two months into his stay in which she
realized that she would rather go through the apprehensive feelings toward
him to reach a state of understanding and acceptance than to convince
herself that caring for him was not her responsibility. The first step was to get
comfortable being around him. The rest came naturally for her. She picked
up on his habits, and started helping her mother care for him.
Unfortunately, three months in, his condition became worse, and her
parents found it fit to place him in a nursing home. While her whole family
shied away from the nursing home, she became a regular there. Mama
Sanku hesitates before admitting that she resented her family sometimes
for, what she felt was a lacking amount of care for her grandfather. She soon
became friends with the other residents, and often took her grandfather for
walks around the nursing home. Mama Sanku claims that she saw her
grandfathers spirit in the eyes of the other residents. About a year into her
grandfathers residency there, a nurse went up to her and remarked that it
seemed as if God had put something special in her heart. She thinks about
this statement often because it was a true wake-up call that maybe this was

her passion.
Mama Sanku went home that day and realized that she had never had
someone in her life before who showed her this aspect of the world. She
remarks, I spent most of my life trying to do what my siblings did, or do
what they did better. I was never exposed to nursing homes or hospitals and
therefore never considered them as a place that fit me. She decided to
embrace this new field and by the age of 18, she was volunteering her time
at a local hospital. Her time there opened her eyes, ears and heart to all the
corruption that occurs in public health. She heard the nurses complain about
the sick, she saw doctors who cared about their quota and not their patient,
and most heartbreak of all was observing she saw those who were dying.
Because of her time spent at the hospital, she realized that she had to make
this her career.
According to Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences,
The United States is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not
have a universal health care system. And, according to the National Center
for Health Statistics, more than 40 million adults stated that they needed but
did not receive one or more of these health services (medical care,
prescription medicines, mental health care, dental care, or eyeglasses) in
2005 because they could not afford it. When Mama Sanku hears these
statistics, her lips draw into a hard line. She shakes her head and comments,
you will read those statistics. They will bother you because as humans, we
are taught to care for others. But reading about something and experiencing

it first hand are entirely different concepts. The first step was to attend
college, and receive an undergrad in Public Health. Upon earning her
bachelors degree in Public Health, she realized that she would have to earn
her masters degree to be taken seriously in the field.
Upon completing her years of higher education, Mama Sanku
experienced jobs in areas of administration and management, along with
jobs relating to health policy. Her two main work experiences were being a
healthcare analyst and a hospital/managed care administrator.
Mama Sanku wants to stress that finding ones self is not about settling
with a job that guarantees certain benefits or securities, it is about coming to
an understanding about what ones passion is. She did not choose to go
through with all that schooling to make more money; she embarked on an
academic prone path because she wanted to make an impact in a part of her
life that she truly cares about.